by info-services@infotechinc.com | Oct 2, 2013 | Case Updates
Infotech Consulting had the opportunity to work with indirect purchaser plaintiffs in an industry that most people never even think about when turning on their faucets. Ductile iron pipe fittings (DIPF) are used to join ductile iron pipe, valves and hydrants within a water system as well as change or direct the flow of water. DIPF are an integral part of municipal and regional water and sewer systems. The end-user plaintiffs, including municipal water works departments, accused Defendants McWane, Inc, Sigma Corporation and Star Pipe Products of violating antitrust laws by restricting trade, charging supracompetitive prices for ductile iron pipe fittings, and unlawful monopolization between 2008 and 2014. These companies controlled over 90% of the DIPF market during this period. Infotech Consulting analyzed over 4.7 million DIPF distributor transactions to calculate the pass through rate to indirect purchasers that then was used to estimate the damages incurred by the end-users as a result of the conspiratorial behavior. Dr. Jim McClave’s damage model helped the plaintiff’s secure settlements totalling over $4 million.
In Re Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings (“DIPF”) Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, Civ. No. 12-169 (US District Court for New Jersey)
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Feb 11, 2013 | Case Updates
A Florida physician was accused of entering into an illegal kickback arrangement with a pathology laboratory and of performing thousands of unnecessary procedures. Based partly on Infotech Consulting’s statistical work, the Florida physician settled with the Department of Justice in 2013 for $26.1 million. According to the Department of Justice, the settlement at the time was the largest amount ever for an individual under the False Claims Act in the Middle District of Florida and was one of the largest in U.S. history. “This settlement represents a watershed achievement in our district’s civil healthcare fraud enforcement program,” said Robert O’Neill, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Infotech designed and selected a statistically valid random sample of Medicare claims, performed various statistical analyses on claims data, and submitted initial and rebuttal expert reports.
U.S. ex rel. Freedman v. Suarez Hoyos et al., No. 04-cv-933-T-24EAJ (M.D. Fla.)
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Dec 31, 2008 | Case Updates
After a mass termination by Guidant Corporation in August of 2004, whereby 721 Guidant employees were given notice of employment termination, a wrongful termination suit was filed. 450 of the employees terminated were age 40 or older. Their last day of work was the day on which they received their termination notice. Defendant announced at the time that the terminations were the product of a reduction in force necessitated by the reduced financial fortunes of the company.
Infotech Consulting was retained to perform statistical analyses relating to the reduction in force (RIFs) applied by the Defendants during the 2003-2005 time period. Specifically, Infotech Consulting examined whether employees in the protected age group (40 and over) were at significantly greater risk of termination during the RIFs. In each analysis, the protected age group class was disproportionately affected by the RIF at highly statistically significant levels. This analysis was a significant contributing factor in the settlement of the case.
In re: Joseph Pagliolo, et al. v. Guidant Corporation, et al (2008)
“Your work on this case was invaluable … There is no question that it was well done, accurate and impressively presented.” Attorney for Plaintiff
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Nov 19, 2007 | Case Updates
On behalf of South Florida Water Management District, Infotech Consulting performed an analysis of monthly total phosphorus data for water quality regulatory compliance purposes. Water quality regulations require that phosphorus loads in the water supply do not exceed a calculated upper bound more than two times during a consecutive 12-month period.
Using water flow data from December 1995 to September 2005 to predict the upper bound of future loads, and adjusting for monthly rainfall, Infotech Consulting implemented an autoregressive time series model to determine if phosphorus loads were in compliance from December 2005 through October 2007. The analysis found only two months of excedence in a 12-month period ending October 2007, establishing the necessary standard of “reasonable assurance” of compliance with phosphorus load limits.
